I thank the committee for giving me the opportunity to speak as a private citizen on this proposed treaty. I think the TPP is just another bad deal for Canada and Canadians, in a long list of bad deals that started with the Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement under Prime Minister Mulroney.
In the last 30 years, despite promises of economic growth and prosperity under many similar deals, the majority of Canadians are no better off than they were in the 1980s, and many are worse off than when these treaties were enacted. A small elite has profited mightily, and this has led to the disgraceful economic inequality we see across this country, of which this city is a prime example. The free trade agreements may not be totally responsible for this inequality, but they certainly didn't prevent it.
Global Affairs Canada has predicted a permanent GDP increase of 0.127% by 2040, as a result of enacting the TPP. If I were to promise you a profit of just over one-eighth of one per cent over 24 years, you probably wouldn't jump at such an opportunity.
Two aspects of the TPP are of particular concern to me. As a retired physician who practised under medicare, but in a country without a universal pharmacare program, I've seen first-hand the adverse effects of high drug costs. Some patients, because of cost, forgo treatment altogether, or are forced to choose less effective or more dangerous treatments, or sometimes forgo the necessities of life, so as to purchase medication for their spouses or children.
Experts in medical economics predict that the cost of pharmaceuticals will increase significantly if we enact the TPP. I would also like to point out that the government may be constrained in regulating the pharmaceutical industry, and may even be prevented from developing a national pharmacare program.
This brings me to a second major concern about the TPP, namely the investor-state dispute settlement provisions. Under NAFTA, this has been a bonanza for multinational corporations, and the small number of private adjudicators and lawyers who participate in these extrajudicial, secret, and binding tribunals. These tribunals can decide on the terms of the free trade agreement, but a government's laws, policies, and regulations interfere with future profits to foreign investors. As a result, they can impose fines on governments, even when the disputed laws, policies, and regulations, are in place to protect the environment and/or public interest.
Canada has been sued at least 39 times under NAFTA, and Canadian taxpayers have paid over $190 million in known awards or settlements.
In conclusion, I would just like to say that I think this agreement, as it stands, is a bad deal for Canada. As the other speakers have said, I am not opposed to trade, but I want it to be fair trade.